Expansion bag



Feb- 3, 1931- J. A. WALKER 1,791,178

` EXPANSIO BAG 2 Sheets-Sheet l Original Filed Aug.y 5, 1927l gru/ventole fa/m65 MZ. Wgler,

Feb. .3, 1931.

J. A. WALKER EXPANSION BAG originl Filed Aug. 5, l192'? 2 sheets-sheet 2 gjm/Liuto@ l Patented Feb. 3, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT oEFlcE JAMES A. WALKER, F ROCKVILLE CENTER, NEW `YORK EXPANSION BAG Application led August 5, 1927, Serial No.-1f210,935. Renewed October 29, 1930.

tent 686,877,.the paper My invention relates to bags or sacks and particularly to those used for containing and shipping commodities in divided form, from those which like potatoes arev very coarse in '5 their division, to those which Iikeement in the powdered form are very finely divided. Great diticulty has heretofore been experienced in producing containers of this character which would be at once cheap to make, and possessed ofv sufficient tensile strength to resist rupture and prevent loss ofthe contained materials when exposed to sudden l strains or stress. An additional property which has been sought in many pro- 5 posed designs, is that of impermeability for finely divided materials. Paper properly treated fulfills the last condition, but has not the tensile strength in its ordinary form to resist sudden strains unless, as stated by Mallalieu in U. S. Letters Patent 194,359, August 21, 1877, it is so strong and thick as to make the paper 4bags quite costly. Malla? lieu proposed a paper lined textile bag, as did also Arkell in U. S. Letters Patents 565,587 August 11, 1896 and 686,877, November 19, 1901. Such construction however is not only more expensive than is justified by modern,

conditions but it also makes a non-homogeneous product, lwhich cannot be employed uniformly for all purposes, with differences only in grade, as 1n the case of paper bags. Furthermore, while the desirability of water proofing such bags has^v been well known (see U. S. Letters Patent to Bower 232,930, 0ctober 5, 1880) the combination of textile and paper fabrics is not adapted to successful water proofing, as the usual meduim employed for uniting the two is some kind of paste, which is hygroscopic, and the textile itself in most forms will absorb moisture, thus weakening the structure as well as defeating its object.

lin the Arkell Patent 565,587, a vertically.

creased paper lining was used, but the patentee still found it necessary to employ the textile envelop, with all its disadvantages, in order to secure the necessary tensile strengthto resist strains, the paper being expansible.

,of a bag In the Arkell Pa fabric is strengthene uent fibers run in leng same as the crinkles depended upon howev d by making the The textile en constitthwise directions the velop is er for ultimate tensile strength, the` purpose of expansion of the paper being to permit the latter to come into intimate 'contact' wi th the textile withoutl being ruptured.

A later proposal of the same typ?l kells is found in the U. S. Letters Jagenberg, 1,078,682. N which the outer fabricv with a crpy lining inside.

envelop as Aratent to ovember 18, 1913, in woven of paper, This however is open to the same objection of costliness in production, andy non-uniformity of product, because such bags cannot be used for an en- Y tire line of goods of 'varying character.

Other paper lined fabric bags have been proposed and patented but none of them can be used to attain the objects of my invention which may be stated as follows: production which shall be homogenous,

that is,

all of one material so that for all grades and sizes the same material will be used; that the bag so produced shall nbe of cheap material such as paper that use if desired can be discarded after one that the thickness of the paper may vary with the commodity involved; that the bag resist the entrance of moist groscopic'material shall enter into struction; that the material shall be susceptible of complete water tering its character shall be so constructed that it will ure; that no hyits conproofing without althe characterof the bag; that the bag shall resist rupture due to any sudden strain, from whatever direction,

as for example by dropping .it when filled wlth heavy finely divided material; and finally, Athat the design to permit quantity means: ll make able paper, to employ ber which gives' shall be simple enough production on bag ma vchlnes of ordinary commercial type, as such ymachines may be necessary.

.l attain my objects, and avoid the objections previously stated, by tlie following considerable my bags entirely of soft, plian'd at the present time prefer for this purpose what is known as kraftv paper, in which there is a iong soft tensile throughout all sizes and g layers together by stitching or other means the first to employ which involve no hygroscopic material l ouse paper such form that one or more of the layers 'may be impregnated with paraffin, or any material for water proofing purposes; l produce resistance to rupture in my bag by constructing alternate layers of soft pliable paper corrugated or crinkled, folded, pleated or creased in directionsy at right angles to each other; and finally, l follow commercial designs for the bag itself, and conform the multi-layer fabric to such design, so that quantity production may be attained in the ordinary way, withoutspecial feaftures. l am aware that in paper decorationsand for other purposes it has beenvproposed to crinkle or corrugate the same sheetof paper in opposite directions but Such material ,has never been used in a bag, nor would it b'e suitable therefor, as it has no resisting properties in any direction, and could not be employed to lift or carry. lf believe that l am separate corrugatedv or crinkled layers of paper put together in the manner and for the purpose stated; also corrugations or crinkles, folds, pleatsor creases at right angles to each other, and ll shall claim the same accordingly. i

My invention is illustrated .in the accompanying drawings, in which Y Fig. l is a faceview of a bag constructed of five layers of crinkle paper, each layer being cut away sufficiently to show the llayer beneath it.

Fig. 2 is a the type of paper employed Fig. l.

Fig. 3 isa view similar to Fig. l, constructed of five layers of corrugated kraft paper, with thecorrugations in successive in the bag of layers at right angles to each other.

Fig. t is a View on an enlarged scale of a fragment of the paper employed in the bag of Fig. 3. i

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. l, showing a modification in which one bag or layer is crinkled, folded, pleated or creased, and the other or others are made of corrugated paper.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view on a larger scale of paper having groups of 'corrugations separated by plain portions without corrugations.

Referringto Fig. 1, 1 is the bag composed of layers of paper 2, 3, 4:, 5, the type section on an enlarged scale ofl or sack menare of paper beingillustrated in /F ig. 2, and commonly called crinkled paper. lln Fig. l, the crinlrles in No. 1 or the outer layer of the bag runvertically. lln layer 2 they run horizontally; in layer they run vertically; in layer 4 they run horizontally, and in layer 5 they run vertically. In case only two layers, as l and 2 are employed, No. l would have its crinkles vertical and 2 would have its crinkles horizontal, or vice versa. The long soft and pliable fibers run in the same direction as thelcrinkles, for tensile strength. rlhe same object, of imparting tensile strength to the walls of .the bag longitudinally and transversely may be measurably attained, as l have found byl experi-` mentation, with sullicient tensile strength for my general purpose, by corrugating the paper in other directions than parallel to the long fibers. This occurs when paper is corrugated as it comes off the roll, since the long fibers are necessarily produced lengthwise of the web in manufacture. lt is obviously more economical to ,corrugate the paper as it comes from the roll than to cut sheets and corrugate them afterward, and l wish therefore to include this construction as a modification of that first stated, and as within the scope of my invention.'

A still further modification, which lies rather in the method of producing the bags than in the structure of the paper, is the following Produce the bagfrom plain paper, preferably in cylinder form, which is the product of the ordinary bag machine. 'l`hen with the bag ready to be closed at the ends, run it through the corrugating machine and produce corrugations either longitudinal or transverse, as may be desired. lf for example it be found economical in manufacture to take the web as it comes from the rolls and turn it, glue it, and cut it off', then the long fibers would run around the body of the tube thus produced. lf now the tube be flattened and run through the corrugating machine or crinkling machine, obviously the lll@ direction of feed through the rolls determines the direction of the corrugations with respect to the long fibers. lf the corrugations are` produced lengthwise of the tube they will be transverse to the long fibers and if transverse to the lengthy of the tube then they will be parallel with the long fibers. lf consider this method of producing the bags by first forming the same and then corrugati'ng them, to be a part of my invention and shall claim the same accordingly.

As a further modification of the method of producing the bags, especially with respect to the use of water proof material, before corrugating and before forming the bai. l preferably treatthe paper with Water proofing substance such as bitumen or asphalt compound or the like. A. convenient way of doing this is by using two separate layers of paper With the Water proof compound between them. vAs this and other methods of water prooling paper areknown, I lay no claim to the same as such, but I do claim as my own the step of first'Waterproofing the paper in any suitable manner, as for example by the means mentioned, and then corrugating the paper in its final form, either in the sheet or roll, or in the tube form produced by the bag machine.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, 11 is the body of a sack similar to 1 in Fig. 1, but constructed of corru ated pliable kraft paper, which may be ma e heavy enough to have any desired tensile strength and in which the long fibers of the paper run in thel same direction as the corrugations. The layers 7 8, 9, 10,

11 have their corrugations alternately at right angles to eachother, and the result is vthe same, except for a little greater stiffness,

as With the bag of Fig. 1.

In using these bags for commodities like iour, cement or-any other finely divided material, it is in accord with good practice to seal the bags at both ends and fill them through valves, which I have indicated at '12 in Figs. 1 and 3. These valves are` usually formed by folding the corners in ,before stitching, so that the stitching holds them in place. When filling the bag, the filling nozzle is introduced through the valve and when the bag is full and the filler removed, the sides of the valve collapse under the weight of the material in the bag, as shown for example in the Bates Patents 623,198, April 18, 1899, and 683,894, October 8, 1901, and Rogers 829,431, August 28, 1906.

The. lines of stitching which close the ends of the bag'are indicated at 6 in Figs.l 1 and 3 and it is to be understood that I may var this method of fastening or substitute other methods for 'it Without departing from the invention, the gist of which lies in the use of alternate layers Withy right angle corrub gations running parallel with long fibers or across the same, and the securing together of the layers Without any hygroscopic material, whereby the entire bag and every part thereof Will Work as a unit both inL lifting and resisting strains, and will olfer a resistance to the latter equal to 100% ofthe tensile strength ofall the material in the bag.

Referring to Fig. 5, If have Vtherein shown a modification employing layers of mixed ch-aracter, as follows: 14 represents the out,

side bag made of crinkled pliable paper, with the crinkles horizontal; 15 represents the first inner bag of corrugated pliable paper with the corrugations vertical; 16 is the sec-J ond innerlbag made of corrugated pliable.

paper with the corrugat-ions horizontall or at right angles to the corrugations of the first inner bag; and' 17 is athird inner bag made of corrugated pliable paper with'corrugan their crinkles or corrugations at ri the degreefof its expansibility. The use of I such paper is indicated in Fig. 5, but it is of course understood that I am ,not limited thereto'.

In the following claims I shall specify the paper I employ, including thekraft paper as pliable, or soft and pliable, or as having soft or pliable fibers, by which I mean that the paper employed is without stiffness,

yso

but may be bent, twisted, folded, etc., with? Y out straining the fiber and without breaking it. This is distinguished from flexible, in the same manner that a soft fabric is distinguished from a cardboard.

' What I claim is:

1. A bag consisting of a plurality of pliable layersvof paper disconnected from each other and free to move one upon another` except along lines of closure of the bag, each layer being gathered or corrugated 1n one direction, and the alternate layers having their gatherings or corrugations at right angles to each other.

2. A bag consisting of two pliable layers, each layer being provided with a series of ridges and intermediate grooves arranged transversely with respect to the ridges and y grooves of the other layer, each layer being free tocontract land expand its ridges and grooves at right angles with respect to the other, except at the lines of closure of the 3. A bag composed of successive pliable layers of homogeneous material, one la er being expansive in one direction and resisting expansion in the other direction, and the second layer resisting expansion in the first direction butvbeing expansible in the other, said layers being independent of and freely .movable on each other except at the lines of closure of the bag. 4. A bag made of paper fabric in a plurality of pliable layers,

each layer having the length of its constituent fibers runningl generally in one direction and having crinkles or corrugations, folds, pleats or creases running in the same general directions with respect to said fibers, and the alternate lay-` ers having the ndirection of their fibers and ght angles to each other, whereby the capacity of the fabricto maintain itself without breaking against strains in either direction is greatly l augmented, said layers being independent of A and freely movable on each other except at the lines of closure of the bag.

i 5. A paper bag formed of a compound paper fabric built up inpliable layers, each layer being crinkled or 'corrugated and alterna'te layers having rugations at right angles to each other, and

water proof means closing the ends of the beg,

said layers being independent of and freely movable on each other except at the lines of closureof the bag. y a

6. 'llhe methodoi' producing a strain resisting fabric bagvvhich conslsts Vin corrugating, crinkling, folding, pleating or creasing pliable paper sheets, fo ing tubes of said sheets adapted to .t one within the other with the ccrru'gations of alternate tubes running in .opposite directions to each other, and closing the ends of said tubes, said layf ers being independent of and freelymovable on each other except at the lines of closure of the bag.

7. A paper bag formed of a compound paper fabric built up in pliable layers, each layer being c rinlrled ror corrugated and alternate layers having their crinkles -or corrugations at right angles to each ,other9 waterproof means closing the ends of the bag, and 'one of the layers treated with suitable water proof material, said layers being independent of and freely movable on each y other except at the lines of closure of the bag;

In testimony whereof ll hereunto aix my signature.

JS A. WALmlEt.

their crlnkles or cor- 

